After a successful debut against Pat Schilling this past month, Pineda moved to 2-0 this year with a first-round submission victory over fellow featherweight Mackens Semerzier.

The preliminary-card bout was part of tonight’s UFC on FX 2 event at Sydney’s Allphones Arena. It aired on FUEL TV prior to the night’s FX-televised main card.

Pineda, who took the fight on short notice for injured Robert Peralta, worked punches early while Semerzier targeted him with low kicks. After a brief timeout due to an accidental low kick, Pineda shook it off, buckled Semerzier with a left hook, followed him to the mat, hopped in mount, and then locked on a triangle choke.

Semerzier tried to fight it off, so Pineda slapped on an accompanying armbar to get the tap-out at the 2:05 mark of the opening round.

“I worked hard for this,” Pineda said. “It was short notice, but I took the fight. Hard work pays off.

“I saw I rocked him, so I went straight to the mount. He’s pretty strong, so I thought he’d throw me off. So I threw the triangle and went for the armbar. I was squeezing the hell out of him, and I couldn’t finish him, so I just saw the armbar there and went for it.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.